Taika Waititi's film Jojo Rabbit - which he also wrote, directed, co-produced and co-starred in, retells the story of Hitler's World War II Germany, with its anti-Semitism and atrocities, through the eyes and imagination of a young boy.

"His inventive mix of humor and history is a cinematic triumph, that allows a fresh and creative exploration of the human capacity for and need for compassion and understanding and love," President of SIGNIS NA Frank Frost says.

The Awards are for "celebrating the highest human values in film and television," he says.

"We feel that 'Jojo Rabbit' and 'Madam Secretary' have indeed advanced the ideals of Signis."

Speaking of the television award winner, Madam Secretary, vice-president of SIGNIS NA Pamela Aleman says: "In 120 episodes ... writer-producer Barbara Hall has entertained millions of viewers with excellent writing, time-relevant story lines, and engaging, positive characters."

"In doing so, she and her team have enabled their viewers to see difficult choices made that respect ethics and integrity while allowing for the compromise that can come from personal respect for an adversary. While sometimes idealizing politics, the series credibly models ideals for which we strive."

Hall thanked SIGNIS US, saying "Thank you for honoring the values we strove to depict in Madam Secretary. They were based on the experiences and ideals of people who had devoted their lives to public service. Pray that those in service now will continue to promote them."

SIGNIS NA is part of SIGNIS World, the Vatican-affiliated international Catholic association for communication. Members of SIGNIS NA include Catholics who work in media in Canada and the United States.

The Holy See has included the "World Catholic Association for Communication, also known as SIGNIS" in its Directory of International Associations of the Faithful, published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

Source

• Wikipedia
• SIGNIS
• Catholic Courier
• Image: Empire

"Your religious expertise should be invaluable," the president and his chief of staff tell Dr. McCord when they offer him the job. When he replies with, "My background is really more medieval," they chuckle. "Well, so is our enemy," the chief of staff responds.

I had to laugh. I majored in religion in college, have a graduate degree in theology, and currently work at U.S. Catholic magazine. The thought of myself or any of my classmates, colleagues, or professors leading a super-secret spy team to single-handedly bring down ISIS is, to put it mildly, a bit of a stretch.

But then I read real-life Secretary of State John Kerry's essay in America. "If I headed back to college today, I would major in comparative religions rather than political science," he says. "Religious actors and institutions are playing an influential role in every region of the world and on nearly every issue central to U.S. foreign policy."

Apparently, television isn't as far from reality as I thought. And while the thought of my theology professors as super spies is still a little much, I'm starting to see what Kerry meant.

Before all the dense theological tomes, before the immersion into history and biblical studies and the classes in pastoral care, liturgy, and public speaking, I entered college as a chemistry and environmental studies major. I wanted to save the world—even if my 18-year-old self hadn't quite figured out quite what that would look like.

When I was informed I had to take a first-year writing seminar, I chose the one that seemed to overlap best with my chosen majors—"Religion and the Environment." It wasn't long before I was hooked. I had never considered how people's faiths affect their actions in the world or how our religious beliefs can motivate us to advocate for climate justice or to deny climate change altogether. Continue reading

• Emily Sanna is the web editor and an associate editor at U.S. Catholic.